


Hail, Well Met

by hossgal



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003), Firefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-08
Updated: 2006-12-08
Packaged: 2019-04-29 07:22:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14467776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hossgal/pseuds/hossgal
Summary: "I left people there, Admiral. I want in."





	Hail, Well Met

**Author's Note:**

> Note from alice ttlg, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Firefly’s Glow](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Firefly%27s_Glow), and was moved to the AO3 as part of the Open Doors project in 2018. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are the creator and would like to claim this work, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Firefly's Glow collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/fireflysglow/profile).
> 
>  **Author's notes:** Spoilers through 3.4 (Exodus) for BSG, set post-movie for FF.  
>  Author's Note: For Minnow1212, who asked for Mal and Adama. Thanks to Florastuart for beta. 1200 words. Contact the author at hosscheka at yahoo dot com.

  
Author's notes: Spoilers through 3.4 (Exodus) for BSG, set post-movie for FF.  
Author's Note: For Minnow1212, who asked for Mal and Adama. Thanks to Florastuart for beta. 1200 words. Contact the author at hosscheka at yahoo dot com.  


* * *

Hail, Well Met

## Hail, Well Met

At the last door, the Marine sergeant conferred with the private standing watch, heads close together as though it were sweet-nothings they were trading instead of passwords they'd sooner kill Mal than let him listen in on. Mal kept his eyes to himself, and didn't particularly try to overhear. Didn't react when the guard - the no-striper _door guard_ \- swept suspicious hands over his arms and legs, and then the sniffer wand over all of him, as though Mal hadn't gotten the same treatment twice already on his way through _Galactica_ 's endless grey corridors. 

Three dead on _Zephyr West_ , ten days past, and they still hadn't tracked down the last of the bomber's cell. 

_It ain't paranoia, if they're really out to get you._ Zoe's voice, weary and resigned, echoed in Mal's memory. Mal clung to the thought, poor substitute for his right arm, but it was all he had these days. 

"He can go in." The guard stepped back and spun the lock. Mal's escort nodded, stepped through and snapped to attention. 

"Admiral Adama, sir. Captain Malcom Reynolds, of _Serenity_ , as requested." 

It had held more the taste of a demand, actually, if not suspiciously flavored like _orders_ , but Mal kept his mouth shut. 

"Very well," The NCO waved Mal inside the office. "That will be all, Sergeant Kalen." 

When the hatch spun shut again, Mal tucked his thumbs behind his belt and strode up to the edge of the fancy carpet. The man behind the desk didn't look up, but waved at the empty chair. 

"Have a seat." 

Mal didn't glance at it. "I'll stand." 

Adama did look up, then, a long piercing glance, before returning to the papers before him. Mal put his shoulders back and tried his best to stand easy. He'd said he'd wait. 

Finally, Adama came to the end of the page, set the sheaf aside and capped his pen. Folding his hands, he met Mal's eyes easy, the low light catching the gleam of gold off the rim of his spectacles. 

"What can I do for you, Captain?" 

"Hear tell that you're going back to New Caprica." 

"Yes." An easy admission, weightless, and Mal cursed inwardly - not five seconds and he was dropping his cards all over the deck. Of course, _yes_ , Adama's voice had said that over the wireless five hours after the first jump, just four months gone. 

_When you get lost, go back, not forward._ "Yes?" 

"Yes. We left people there. We're going back to get them. Is this a surprise to you, Captain?" 

"Well, this next bit was. I hear you're going soon. Like, in the next two days." 

That stopped Adama, unfolded his hands. "Where did you hear that?" 

Mal shrugged. "Here and there. I got my sources." 

Adama just stared back at him. Another moment, and the commander leaned forward again. "What can I do for you, Captain?" 

Here it was. "I want in." 

"Out of the question." 

"I left people there, Admiral. I want in." 

"This will be a military operation, Captain, and the answer is no." 

"Right. 'Cause your last miltary op went so well. What were we doing there?" Mal was aware that his mouth was running ahead of his brain, as though he was Jayne on one of the doc's crazy concoctions for his sister, but he couldn't seem to bring himself to shut. up. "Oh, right, running. Like whupped dogs. Admiral, I've seen victorious space fleets and this? Ain't one. Looks more like one on the loosing end of the fight, to me." 

"Does it." And the temperature in the cabin was passing _arctic_ and still dropping. 

Mal blinked away the memory that swam up, unbidden - Zoe, again, but this time it was Zoe in the Alliance camp, after Serenity Valley, and the picture wasn't pretty at all. He took a deep breath and tried to figure out why he was still standing in front of this desk, instead of being someplace else. Like, say, an airlock. 

Adama was staring at him, gone quiet and still. Mal tracked back along the conversation, decided that maybe it was his turn to say something. 

"That it does." Except, maybe, not _that_. Because it was things like that which might get a man as sharp as the Admiral to wondering just _which_ defeated armies a man that looked as young as Malcom Reynolds might have had occasion to see. 

Adama didn't ask that question. Instead, he said, quiet-like, "And yet you still want in." 

Mal shrugged. "That I do. I said loosing side, not the wrong side." 

And that, somehow, was the right thing to say. Or, nearly so. 

"Captain, I appreciate your willingness to engage the enemy. But this will be a complex mission, involving multiple ships at multiple vectors. Your ship does not have the jump capability to match the _Galactica_." 

"How -" This time, Mal got his teeth shut around the words with only one slipping loose. 

"I have my sources. Here and there." Adama might have smiled. He might not have. "Your ship - _Serenity_ \- is quite unusual. Unique." 

Check, and mate. Kaylee had been running her mouth to that Fleet mechanic again, Mal would bet his boots on it. _Later_. When he had time to both yell at Kaylee and make her swear to keep _Serenity_ safe until he got back with Zoe and Inara. 

Time to pull out his pawn-become-a-queen. 

"I got me some people with talent, on my ship." A deep breath, and then the plunge. "I figure you're going to be sending a group in early, make contact with them that was left behind, find out what they're doing to fight the Cylons. I know of two for sure that aren't going to lay down, even if all they got between them is a rock and a pair of hairpins. 

"On _Serenity_ , I got someone who can tell the difference between a real human and a metal man. Just by being in the room with them. I figure a person like that might come in handy." 

It looked like Adama had stopped breathing. Mal waited. 

"Is that...all?" 

Not a joke, not in the least, but Mal felt laughter swelling up in him. "I'm a fair hand with a gun. Got me another man, nearly as good." 

"Will they follow orders? Will you? This is a -" 

"- military op. Yeah. There ain't nothing wrong with my ears, Admiral. I know my crew. They ain't much for dancing, but they can follow the call." And if Jayne didn't, by God Mal would make the man wish he'd never let go of his momma's tit. "Not looking to sign on, permanent-like. Just, you know, for the duration." 

Adama bent his head, looked down at his hands. Unfolded them, set them on the desk and pushed himself to his feet. Held his hand out, across the desk. "Captain, I believe we have a deal."

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title:   **Hail, Well Met**   
Author:   **hossgal**   
Details:   **Standalone**  |  **PG**  |  **gen**  |  **6k**  |  **12/08/06**   
Characters:  Malcolm, Other \- Adama   
Crossover with: Battlestar Galactica   
Summary:  "I left people there, Admiral. I want in."   
Notes:  Spoilers through 3.4 (Exodus) for BSG, set post-movie for FF.   
Author's Note: For Minnow1212, who asked for Mal and Adama. Thanks to Florastuart for beta. 1200 words. Contact the author at hosscheka at yahoo dot com.   
  



End file.
